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Just about the time a surgical procedure becomes fairly standard and accepted as an effective treatment approach to a problem, someone steps in and takes a look back to see if, indeed, all is well. In this case series (seven patients), major and minor complications of vertebroplasty for vertebral compression fractures are reviewed. Vertebroplasty gives surgeons a way to fix the broken bone without the problems associated with open surgery.

Is low back pain (LBP) during pregnancy normal? If studies are right and half of all women have low back pain sometime during pregnancy, does that support the idea that this symptom is to be expected during pregnancy? Available studies provide only a snapshot of what's going on with women, pregnancy, and low back pain. The answers to these and other questions are not to be found in the many small studies already published.

While only one out of 2000 patients are diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome, it is diagnosed in one percent to 16 percent of patients who have lower back (lumbar) disk herniations (bulging or slipped disks) and in two percent to three percent of patients who end up needed surgery for the herniated disks.

In the late 1990s, the United States government made it easier for doctors to order opioids (narcotics) to help relieve pain not caused by cancer, called chronic non-cancer pain. As a result, the prescriptions of opioids has grown so doctors could help treat patients living with chronic pain. Some studies showed that these medications could help treat chronic pain, however some of it wasn't very strong.

Somatisation (also spelled somatization) is the process of a mental or emotional feeling or stress becoming a physical feeling. Researchers often wonder about somatisation and psychosomatic behavior because it's a puzzling part of the human body and mind. Not only is it puzzling, it's very common. Many people experience somatisation at some point, with fatigue and nausea for example.